Development of a system by atomization for the formation of polymeric particles in micro and sub-micro scales

Several studies in nanotechnology have demonstrated significant advantages of nanoparticles compared with microparticles. The main reason for this is the higher ratio of surface area per volume, which results in specific characteristics. Such considerations have driven researchers to develop techniques to obtain polymeric nanoparticles with properties that allow application in different areas. The objective of this work is to present a polymerization process by atomization applied to miniemulsion and suspension systems for formation of submicron particles of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and polystyrene (PS). Reactions were carried out using the proposed technique and polymeric particles were obtained with size between 40 and 300 nm, according to dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis, and with spherical morphological characteristics, according to the results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).